Real estate websites typically have a description of the real estate listed for sale on the website. The description often includes pictures of the real estate in addition to a written description of the property. Photographs of the property are helpful and an improvement over a text description. However, without physically visiting the property to look at it, the property can only be seen from the viewpoint of the photographer and lack spatial navigation. So photographs, while helpful, have not eliminated the need to physically go to the property and understand how it is laid out.
Some real estate websites have posted video tours of their listed properties, which can be even more helpful than photographs. Often these videos are created by a realtor or home-owner who walks through the home while recording with a video camera. The quality of those videos is generally not good, so some realtors will use professional videographers to create a more polished and professional video. Unfortunately, videos are likewise limited in the sense that the viewer can only see the property from the viewpoint of the videographer. Also, the viewer does not have the ability to tour the property on his own route because the videos have a predetermined path through the house.
In an attempt to allow the viewer to have more control over what he can observe, some real estate websites have used panorama cameras to take panoramic photos of the properties. This has the advantage that, from the location at which the panorama was taken, the viewer can “rotate” his viewpoint, thus observing the entire panoramic photo. These panoramas have the advantage that they give a more “in-person” feel to looking at the property than traditional photos or videos. However, the location of the viewpoint is still restricted to the location at which the panorama photo was taken.
From the buyer's perspective, real estate websites suffer from numerous problems at present. First among these is the typical gallery of photographs of the property. Usually, the photographs are taken by the real estate agent or homeowner and are intended to highlight the positive attributes of the property while minimizing any negative attributes. The photo galleries are usually navigated linearly, by proceeding from one two-dimensional photograph to the next. Lastly, the viewer is restricted to the viewpoint of the available photographs. To get a different viewpoint, the buyer must visit the property in person.
Potential home buyers suffer from a lack of real estate information and tools. Many real estate brokerage websites provide some photographs of the properties in their listings. However, these websites remain surprisingly poor at providing comprehensive visual and spatial information about properties.
There is a need for a system that overcomes limitations of the current methods of creating virtual models of real properties, as well as providing additional benefits.